In today's fast evolving Central and Eastern Europe, economic perspectives, especially European Union perspectives are indispensable to the success of the transformation process initiated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Based on our research output, this thesis offers many such perspectives that can help understand the logic of the transformation and the subsequent business done by national and international enterprises. We have interwoven many information-rich threads of transformation principles with banking, dynamic cultural factors and tax policy that influence these new market-economy countries. We observe the role and the process of financial institutions and also consider the impact that information technology exerts on these economies and thus concluding that the significance of culture development and the betterment of the population are the central driving force within a wider Europe. This thesis offers fundamental notions that influence cross-cultural interactions also, providing a concrete basis for understanding the influence of Central and Eastern European countries on the European Union's political choices and vice versa. We examine the transformation and its significance, paradoxes and the interplay of economic approaches and entrepreneurship. In the specific, we look at how the European Union policy towards these countries evolved, suggesting that a trend towards a Bruxelles Consensus is the specific outcome of the European Union's attitudes towards Central and Eastern Europe. An extended evaluation of the consequences for all of us will also emerge as our approach has been that to present all these aspects in a way that inspire understanding of basic governing issues and expectations concerning the future on Central and Eastern Europe in the ever-growing European Union.

Since 1989 Austria's investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe has intensified. Investments are concentrated in adjacent countries. Geographical proximity and close historical and cultural ties have enabled even small and medium-sized Austrian enterprises to achieve a 'first mover advantage'. Investments have been performed to a large extent in industries that are typically not connected with outsourcing activities (trade, finance and insurance, construction). Market-driven factors and strategic considerations are the ultimate objective of these investments. Only a few sectors, in particular a so-called 'core' industrial sector (metal products, mechanical products, electrical and electronic equipment), indicate that low labour costs are of importance. Trade and sales data of the affiliates support the dominance of the local market. Whilst on average 66% of the affiliates output was sold locally this share was only 39% for the "core" industrial sector. This sector indicates particular patterns of relocation. Nevertheless, until now this part of Austria's FDI has only been of minor importance. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

We investigate the role of leasing in the lending boom in Central and South Eastern Europe (CEE and SEE). We contribute by (1) providing a full picture of the financing situation in Eastern Europe, where leasing plays a more important role than elsewhere; (2) by investigating the finance-growth-nexus for ten Eastern European countries with a panel data approach over 1999-2006; (3) by extending the production function approach (credit, stock, bond) and the law-and-financeview for leasing. We find that leasing and credit positively contributed to economic growth. However, leasing and credit are complements and not substitutes as suggested partly by previous research in other regions. We conclude that leasing cannot be used to circumvent proper regulation by policy makers or market participants, and that alternative forms of finance need to be included for a full picture of the finance-growth link. / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Using information from the Amadeus dataset and the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, we provide an empirical investigation of the industry and firm-specific determinants of the intensive margin (i.e., within existing firms) job creation process in eleven Central and Eastern European economies during the period 2002-2009. Our results indicate that during the years prior to the global financial crisis, traditional industries were crucial for the net intensive margin creation of jobs in the region but, by contrast, services firms were less vulnerable to the economic downturn. At the firm level, small and young already existing firms and subsidiaries of multinational corporate groups tended to register the highest employment growth rates. The empirical results also indicate that more productive surviving firms tended to be less vulnerable to the economic downturns in terms of employment change. The perceived quality of the business climate by enterprises of the region is robustly correlated with intensive margin employment growth both before and during the recent global financial crisis. Interestingly, the best performing surviving firms are estimated to be most negatively affected by a poor business environment. Institutional barriers thus appear as an important factor hampering firm growth in Central and Eastern Europe. These findings hold for the group of high-growth surviving firms (gazelles) that disproportionately accounted for the creation of new jobs in these economies.

The national parks in the Carpathian Mountains along the Polish and Slovak border represent encompassing policy agendas that strive to balance biodiversity conservation and social welfare tasks. These countries have, during the last 25 years, undergone rapid transformation from socialist regimes to liberal democracies, and this transformation has affected the political, social and economic spheres. The accession to the European Union (EU) introduced demands for further changes, such as closer integration of conservation and socioeconomic development and inclusive, transparent and accountable decision-making that are based on participatory mechanisms. This thesis explores key challenges and opportunities for nature conservation policy and practice at the local level in a context of post-socialist legacies and Europeanization. Multi-level governance, Europeanization, and post-socialist studies are used as theoretical vehicles for the analysis of four transboundary national parks: Pieninsky national parks (NP) in both Poland and Slovakia and Bieszczady NP [Poland] and Poloniny NP [Slovakia]. The results of this study show that the early designation of the studied parks as protected areas prevented their exploitation and enabled preservation of important landscapes, which currently are highly valued at the European level. These nature conservation regimes have created tangible restrictions on the possible economic uses of these areas. However, rural development alternatives depend on a broader set of local, national and global factors such as the structure of the local economy and employment, the prioritization of nature conservation in national policies, investors’ interest, and increasing urbanization. Europeanization provided opportunities for local actors to benefit from additional funding made available for nature conservation and rural development. At the same time, demands for participatory decision-making posed significant procedural and conceptual challenges to achieving transparent, inclusive and accountable governance. The prevalence of informal practices in local policy-making and the lack of trust in state authorities pose further challenges to formal participatory processes. The opportunities of local actors to reach out across levels to express their interests remain scarce and are not institutionalized, whereas the multi-level characteristics of modern governance indirectly shape local processes by defining common legal and policy frameworks. / Förvaltningen av nationalparkerna in vid gränsen mellan Polen och Slovakien i Karpaterna är framför allt inriktad mot att uppnå balans mellan bevarande av biologisk mångfald och social välfärd. Polen och Slovakien har under de senaste 25 åren genomgått en snabb förändring från socialistiska regimer till liberala demokratier, vilket har inneburit genomgripande politiska, sociala och ekonomiska förändringar. Medlemskapet i EU innebar ytterligare förändringar, som till exempel integrering av naturvårdsarbete och socioekonomisk utveckling, liksom främjande av inkluderande, transparent och deltagarinriktat beslutsfattande. Därmed bygger den moderna beslutsprocessen inte längre på den tidigare hierarkiska strukturen, utan har nu fått en aningen diffus karaktär, innefattande mängd olika aktörer som interagerar i såväl horisontella som vertikala beslutsprocesser. I denna avhandling utforskas nyckelutmaningar och möjligheter för beslutsfattande och implementering av naturvårdsarbete på lokal nivå, relaterade till de post-socialistiska arven och medlemskapet i EU. Multi-level governance (politiskt beslutsfattande på flera nivåer), Europeanization (europeisering) och post-socialistiska studier används som teoretiska verktyg för analysen av fyra gränsöverskridande nationalparker: Pieninsky, som innefattar såväl polska som slovakiska områden, Bieszczady (Polen) och Poloniny (Slovakien). Studien visar att det tidiga inrättandet av naturskydd i nationalparkerna hindrade exploatering och möjliggjorde bevarandet av värdefulla naturområden, vilka idag är högt värderade utifrån ett europeiskt perspektiv. Reglerna för detta naturskydd har dock skapat begränsningar för hur områdena kan användas för, till exempel, agrara verksamheter och turism. De mer övergripande landsbygdsutvecklingsmöjligheterna beror av lokala, nationella och globala faktorer som exempelvis den lokala ekonomins struktur, tillgång på arbetstillfällen, hur naturskydd prioriteras i nationellt beslutsfattande, intresse för investeringar i området och urbaniseringsprocesser. Medlemskapet i EU har medfört utökade möjligheter för finansiering av naturskydd och landsbygdsutveckling. Samtidigt har medlemskapet för dessa länder lett till ökade förväntningar på politiskt deltagande och nya utmaningar vad gäller transparens i beslutsfattande och inkluderande beslutsprocesser. Vidare har informella beslutsvägar i lokalt beslutsfattande och lågt förtroende för statliga myndigheter lett till ytterligare utmaningar i deltagandeprocesser. Möjligheter för lokala aktörer att kunna kommunicera och påverka beslut på högre nivåer har förblivit begränsade och är ännu inte tydligt institutionaliserade, samtidigt som det moderna, interaktiva beslutsfattandet på flera nivåer indirekt formar lokala processer genom att definiera legala och politiska ramverk inom vilka förvaltningsbeslut fattas.

This paper examines fertility and family policies in 15 Central and East European (CEE) countries to establish firstly, likely directions of cohort fertility trends for the coming decade; and secondly, to provide an overview and analysis of family policies in CEE countries, and to assess their impact on cohort fertility trends. Demographic analysis suggests that the cohort fertility decline of the 1960s cohorts is likely to continue at least among the 1970s birth cohorts; stagnation cannot be ruled out. Births that were postponed by women born in the 1970s were not being replaced in sufficient numbers for cohort fertility to increase in the foreseeable future, and shares of low parity women (childless and one child) were larger than shares of high parity women among the late 1960s cohorts than in older cohorts. Also, childbearing postponement which started in the 1990s is reflected in dramatic changes of childbearing age patterns. As period fertility rates have been increasing in the late 2000s throughout the region an impression of a fertility recovery has been created, however the findings of this project indicate that no such widespread childbearing recovery is underway. For the first time ever an overview and analysis of CEE family policies is conceptualized in this paper. It demonstrates that fertility trends and family policies are a matter of serious concern throughout the region. The following family policy types have been identified: comprehensive family policy model; pro-natalist policies model; temporary male bread-winner model; and conventional family policies model. The majority of family policies in CEE countries suffer from a variety of shortcomings that impede them from generating enhanced family welfare and from providing conditions for cohort fertility to increase. The likely further decline of cohort fertility, or its stagnation, may entail long-term demographic as well as other societal consequences, such as continuous declines in total population numbers, changes in age structures, as well as implications for health and social security costs.

Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, this paper examines differences in entrepreneurial perceptions (fear of failure, opportunity perception, self-efficacy, public opinion) between CEE and non-CEE countries, before and after the 2008 recession, as well as the effects of these perceptions on entrepreneurial motivation and overall levels of activity. The results suggest that CEE countries have systematically more pessimistic outlooks in terms of fear of failure and opportunity perception, but no difference from non-CEE countries in self-efficacy and public opinion. Additionally, most of the difference in fear of failure and opportunity perception, along with an increase in necessity-motivated entrepreneurship, comes after the recession, suggesting less durability and resilience of optimistic entrepreneurial perceptions in CEE countries. Finally, there is evidence of a higher threshold for a perceived opportunity to become a business reality in these post-socialist CEE countries.

The diploma thesis is focused on the situation of university graduates in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The main objective of the thesis is to analyse opinions, attitudes and expectations of today's university graduates in the CEE region, with focus on the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, and then, based on this analysis, to define recommendations for companies. This analytical part is preceded by a general definition of relationship between university graduates and companies, concentrating particularly on their recruitment, as well as description of labour market and system of tertiary education in CEE countries. Furthermore, education policy of European Union and its influence on development of tertiary education systems in the region is also mentioned.

Romania, as other Central and Eastern European countries, was after 1989 in the position to make the choice regarding its future development. Economists have added a new word to their vocabulary -- the economic transformation. The work focuses on the process of economic transformation in Romania after 1989. The first part deals with the main theoretical approaches to the process of transformation. The theoretical part is followed by the analysis of the most important economical indicators and other features of the Romanian economic transformation. The accession of Romania to the European Union is also stressed out. The conclusion of the work summarises the successes and failures of the transformation process in Romania.

V práci jsou analyzovány kořeny, vývoj, současné postavení, hrozby a výzvy think-tanků v České a Slovenské republice. Srovnání s jejich tradicí ve Spojených státech zkoumá přenositelnost amerického "modelu" think-tanků do střední a východní Evropy. Tento přenos je značně omezený a krátkodobě nerealizovatelný vzhledem k rozdílným legislativním podmínkám a nerozvinuté filantropii. Zvláštní pozornost je věnována motivům k vytváření regionálních i mezinárodních sítí think-tanků. Práce vychází jednak z dosavadní literatury na toto téma, jednak z dotazníkového šetření.